I'm always excited when I get a new article published, and this is no exception. I've been waiting for this one to go live for a while, so I couldn't wait to share.

I've had quite a few freelance writing gigs over the years, and this is a small compilation of the things I've learned -- both good and bad. My experiences have helped me decide when to turn down a writing gig and when to accept one. Not all writing gigs are created equal.

Please click here to read the article. I'd love to know what you think or about your own freelance writing experiences.

A writer's life is one full of rejection and disappointment. I've never felt it more strongly than I have the last few weeks or so. The writing life is painful. It is good, too, and fulfilling and joyous, but it hurts.

I've been working on one of my novels for three days a week since the beginning of the year. I have many weeks under my belt. Then I think of how far I've gotten. Not far at all. I keep circling back to the first chapter still. All this time and all this work, and what do I have to show for it? A whole lot of nothing.

I'll be honest. I thought I'd be much further in nine weeks than a solid first chapter and mediocre second, third, fourth, and fifth chapters.

My goal this year is to query three agents per month. I've kept up with it, but that also means I'm receiving regular agent rejections. I've had many agent rejections in the past, but there's something about these that feel so painful. Each rejection makes me feel further away from my ultimate goal. Each rejection makes me question the path I've chosen and makes me wonder if I'm good enough.

Sometimes in the face of disappointment, it can be hard to remember progression and achievement. My brain tends to focus on the things I'm not getting done rather than the things I've completed. I need to change that. Although, it's one thing that keeps me productive. I may not be hitting these main goals like I wanted, but that doesn't mean that other cool stuff isn't happening all around me.

I may not have made huge progress getting through page numbers with my revision so far this year, but that doesn't mean I've failed.

I took my first chapter to my critique group twice, two months in a row, after working on it in between. I needed a solid beginning to help me frame the rest of the revision, so it makes sense that I kept circling back to it. It wasn't ready for me to move on to the rest of the story. I may have a lot of work left to do on the novel, but I have a strong first chapter, and there's something beautiful about that.

As for the agents, I used to never even get a response from agents. I may not be getting positive news, but they're actually responding. That shows progress.

I also had an article pitch approved for a book on writing put together by ANWA (the writing association I'm a part of). I'm ecstatic about that. Now I just need to buckle down and write it. No big deal, right?

I'm making progress on my writing, but just in different ways that I originally imagined.

How are your 2018 writing goals coming along?

I've had a new article published this morning on one of my favorite sites -- Introvert, Dear. This article idea has been floating in my mind for months, and it was actually therapeutic to get it out. The simple act of writing it has allowed me to close the door on that relationship even more. I'm grateful for that.

If you have a moment, take a look and let me know what you think or if this has ever happened to you.

You can read it here.

In order to keep myself accountable this year and to also give you some thoughts on goals you could make, here are my 2018 writing-related New Year's resolutions.

It's time to get down to business. I NEED to find an agent this year, and the only way to do that is to put the work in. And I don't mean the same type of "work" I've been doing over the years. I mean consistent, researched work.

With this in mind, I have committed to querying at least three agents per month. Sure, I could do more. I could send queries to every agent out there. But this isn't about finding any agent. This is about finding the right one for me and my work.

"The Highest Apple" is the first novel I ever wrote, and it holds a special place in my heart. I had been trying to figure out that story for almost a decade. I tried it as a picture book and a short story. Didn't work. I knew it needed to be a novel, but I was afraid to write something that long.

I've revisited a few times since I wrote it, but this year I'm devoting major time to making it ready to be pitched.

I want to work on this novel at least three times each week.

Even though my main focus for this year isn't on building my freelance career too much, I still want to make forward progress. I just got on article accepted for publication this week, so that's great! I have two more slotted for March, but I don't know if I should count those toward this goal because they were accepted for publication last year, but I've just been playing the waiting game.

And those are it! Should keep me busy enough, right?

What are some of your writing goals for 2018?

November went by in a blur.

No, wait. That's a lie.

November was a painful trek over thorny and headache-inducing terrain. My feet are bloodied and my body and mind are broken.

But you know what? I have a first draft of a novel. Worth it.

Now that I'm in blissful December, I feel like I can breath and finally focus on things I've been neglecting all last month (like working out and housework for starters).

December 1st -- this is what freedom feels like, and it feels marvelous.

 
We're only a few days into December, and I'm trying to re-find myself. There's something about NaNoWriMo that helps you hyper-focus on writing that book. Because of that, other things have to fall by the wayside. Otherwise, you'd never finish the book.

I'm currently trying to get out of the habit of skipping my workout so I can free up more time. I power through the morning, trying to get all my grading done because that's what I've been doing for the last month. By the time I realize that I can slow down again and enjoy parts of my day, it's a bit late and I have other deadlines to hit (like getting my twin girls in bed on time!).

Before November, I would sit down to my meals and read a book as I ate. It was some of my favorite times of the day. In order to find enough time to write my novel, I had to cut that out. Instead, as I ate, I worked.

I actually sat down today for the first time in over a month and read my book for ten minutes while I ate lunch. I was instantly more relaxed and happy. I had forgotten it felt like that. Boy, I missed that.

I even did a little knitting today. Watch out, world!

During November, I had two articles get accepted to two different publications. I was excited but overwhelmed because of everything on my plate. It didn't take them long to send back edits, which I didn't have time to touch if I was going to hit my goal of 50,000 words.

So, I put it off.

Now that it's December, I can finally get around to those edits and finally feel the full excitement of getting those articles published in a few months.

Yay!

Before the chaos of NaNoWriMo, I spent the few hours between my daughters' bedtime and mine working on freelancing articles and querying a novel to agents. As you can probably guess, I had to give that up and devote that time to novel writing.

I love that I'm able to get back to that habit. It feels good to continue making progress on those fronts.

So, what about you? How was your NaNoWriMo journey, and how does December feel?